Road to Dawn
by Isabeau1
Summary: Riku readjusts to the home he never expected to find his way back to.
1. Homecoming

Author's note: I have not played Chain of Memories because I can't quite justify buying a Gameboy Advanced just to play one game, so the references to what happened between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II are probably wrong.

Also, standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix and Disney.

Edit: 7/28/08 This story had been revised. The only substantial changes are in chapter five, although there are a few continuity changes here and there.

**Ch 1: Homecoming **

Riku slept through his first week home. Fitful, uneasy sleep, that more often than not ended in him starting awake, keyblade in hand. He still slept. After three years of catching an hour here and an hour there, wherever he happened to be, sleeping in a clean, dry bed was a luxury.

He hadn't known what to expect from his parents when he had knocked on his front door that night, after reassuring Sora for the umpteenth time that he was fine and sending him home to his own parents, whom he was desperate to see. Riku didn't know what Kairi had told his parents, and as horrible as it sounded, he wasn't sure they had missed him all that much.

He had never been close to them. He had never found much in common with them and had as little time for them as they did for him. He didn't think they had ever really known what to do with him. He was so different from them and from everyone else on the island. Some part of him thought it must have been a relief to not have him there.

His father had cried. Riku had never seen his father cry. His mother had held him like she was never going to let go. Riku didn't have any solid memories of his mother holding him, only vague childhood moments, intangible, and separated from him by a lifetime.

He felt guilty then, that he had so easily left them behind, that he had been so desperate to leave their tiny world that he hadn't given them a second thought. He knew he had missed them. Mickey had told him he cried for them sometimes in his sleep, but he hadn't really felt the loss until he was sitting between them on their couch, and his father kept staring at all the small fighting scars on his hands and wrists, and his mother couldn't stop repeating that he had grown so much.

Riku hadn't really processed any of it yet. He had slept. He had been so tired for so long that there was nothing else for him to do. He probably wouldn't have even gotten up to eat, except more often than not he woke to find Sora sprawled on his stomach beside him reading, or leaning over him, gripping his wrist gently and pushing Road to Dawn safely away from both of them. Sora, it seemed, was perpetually hungry and had decided if he was hungry, then Riku should eat. The logic of that escaped Riku, but it didn't seem worth the effort to point this out to Sora.

Riku woke Sunday to the smell of bacon and remembered that his mother always made a big breakfast on Sundays, because it was the only day his father didn't work. He remembered big glasses of orange juice, bacon and eggs, and hash browns. Sometimes fish too, fried crispy in the bacon drippings, because when you lived on an island, there was fish with almost every meal. He was hungry before he opened his eyes, and that was even more surprising than him remembering what Sundays were like. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually felt hungry.

Sunlight slipped into his room in narrow rows, falling from between the slats of his blinds and across his bed. For the first time since he had collapsed into bed, he contemplated getting up without Sora insisting. When he did get up, he was just as sore and stiff as he expected, but sore and stiff were nothing new to him, and the bacon smelt good.

He padded into the kitchen, barefoot and in just his pajama pants, tying his hair back sloppily as he walked. He hesitated in the door, standing in the slanted shadows of the hallway, watching his parents. His father stood at the stove, frying bacon and flipping hash browns, while his mother was at the counter peeling oranges and slicing up papaya. He wondered if they had done this every Sunday since their world had been pulled from darkness, if they had gone on just like always, just like nothing had happened.

"You're awake," his mother looked up at him and smiled. "Are you hungry?" There was something hopeful in her voice, something needy.

"Yeah," Riku stepped into the kitchen.

"Well, sit down. It's almost ready," his father motioned him over to the kitchen table, then frowned. "Are you…?"

Riku realized his father was staring at the bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach. His injuries were still painfully tender, but Mickey and Donald had both looked at them before they had left and done what they could with them. They hadn't been able to heal them completely, but they were confident they would heal given time. Riku hadn't given them a second thought since Mickey had made him promise he would take it easy until he was well.

"It's fine," Riku self-consciously brushed his fingers over the bandages as he sat down at the table, wishing he had thought to put a shirt on.

"You're sure?" his mother looked unconvinced.

"I'm sure," Riku said, and for the first time in a long time, almost believed it.

"Then let's eat," his father flipped the last of the bacon onto a plate, forestalling any protest from his wife.

* * *

"… so then Tidus said there was no way a girl could ever beat him…" Selphie continued her story, oblivious to having lost her audience.

Behind her, Wakka rolled his eyes and mimicked talking with his hands. Kairi managed to stop herself from laughing. Not only had she heard this story half a dozen times today alone, but she had been there when it happened. Poor Tidus faired worse with every telling.

"Then Kairi said 'you wanna bet' and Tidus was like…" Selphie trailed off, her gaze fixed over Kairi's shoulder.

Kairi glanced behind her and grinned. Riku and Sora were walking up the beach towards them, Sora walking backwards, hands laced behind his head, talking cheerfully. It certainly wasn't Sora Selphie was staring at though. Riku had grown a lot in the last three years.

"Riku!" Selphie's ear-splitting squeal made Kairi and Wakka both wince.

She bolted for Riku, only to be brought up short by Sora, who caught her easily with one arm and set her on the ground.

"No flying tackles Selphie," Sora informed her.

"Hi Selphie," Riku said mildly.

At least he remembers her, Kairi thought dryly. She knew there were still some gaps in Riku's memories of home. She wondered if he remembered that Selphie had never shown this much interest in him before.

"Hi Riku!" Selphie grinned, oblivious to Sora who hadn't quite moved from between she and Riku. "Wow you've gotten hot… tall, I mean tall!" her cheeks colored only slightly.

Riku gave her a bewildered, wary look that Kairi found adorable. Wakka fell on the sand laughing.

"Oh shut up!" Selphie spun on him, smacking him hard with her purse.

"Ow!" Wakka yelped between laugher. "Watch it girl."

"So you finally decided to get up, hm Sleepy Head?" Kairi linked an arm through Riku's, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah," Riku shrugged. "Couldn't sleep forever, I guess."

"Selphie don't…" Sora tried unsuccessfully to pull Selphie off of Wakka, who was still laughing, despite being beaten. "You'll miss him if you kill him. You won't have anyone to buy you ice cream."

"Tidus will," Selphie took another swing at Wakka, despite Sora having lifted her off the ground.

"Where is Tidus?" Riku asked.

"He's been scarce the last few days," Kairi grinned, leaning slightly against Riku's shoulder. "See, he was going on and on about how there was no possible way that a girl could beat him, and he had already beaten Selphie, so, you know, I just felt the need to stand up for girl-kind everywhere. It's not like I used my keyblade or anything."

Riku ducked his head and laughed softly.

"We're going to the Play Island," Sora set Selphie down behind him, safely away from Wakka. "Do you guys want to come?"

"No man," Wakka pushed himself up off the ground, brushing sand from his shorts. "That place is creepy. No one goes there anymore."

"I keep telling you it's safe," Kairi shook her head.

"It's still creepy." Selphie insisted.

"Alright," Sora shrugged. "We'll see you later then."


	2. Blackberry Season

**Ch 2: Blackberry Season**

"The blackberries are in season," Kairi grinned as she picked one from between the thorns.

"Does your mom still make that really good blackberry jam or those cobblers?" Sora wasn't as careful as Kairi, but he didn't notice the scratches. "I remember we used to pick buckets of them for her."

"I don't know," Riku shook his head, ignoring the blackberries.

He remembered though, when he and Sora were small, before Kairi had come to the islands, lugging home a large metal bucket full between them, lips and tongues stained purple, and hands scratched from the bramble. Later, they had all had their own buckets, and Riku had picked the most the quickest. Even when they were eleven or twelve, his mother had despaired at sending Sora home yet again with his white shirt covered in blackberry stains.

Kairi kept to herself that Nara Heaton hadn't made blackberry anything since her son had disappeared.

"Maybe if we brought her some she would," Sora continued to eat the berries right off the vine.

"Maybe," Riku replied absently.

He was sitting in the shade beside where Kairi and Sora were occupied with the small sweet fruits, staring off towards the poapu island, his back resolutely towards the Secret Place.

"Have you talked to your parents at all since you got back?" Kairi picked a hand-full and sat down beside him, offering him some.

"No, he's been sleeping," Sora grinned.

"Weren't there more trees on that island?" Riku narrowed his eyes against the sun glinting off the water.

"Yeah," Kairi nodded. "The last few storm seasons have been pretty bad. They wiped out most of them."

"The poapu's still there," Sora flopped down on Riku's other side, also offering him blackberries.

Riku ignored the offer of food. He had eaten more in one sitting this morning then he was used to eating in days, and he wasn't hungry.

"Why wouldn't it be? It's gotten through ever storm since before we were born," Kairi shrugged.

"Why doesn't anyone come here anymore?" Riku asked abruptly.

He had been sitting in the same spot for the last hour while Sora ran all over the island, and Kairi tried to keep up with him. He could feel the pulse like energy from the Secret Place, but he couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary or at all remarkable about their little Play Island.

"Even though they don't really remember the darkness coming, they know this is where it started. They all swear they feel like something's trying to sneak up on them when they're here. I think it's all rubbish. King Mickey, Donald and Goofy were here all the time while we waited for you two, and they never said there was anything strange about it," Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Then Mickey sealed the door," Riku pushed himself up to his feet, finally turning towards the Secret Place.

"Huh?" Sora looked up at him blankly.

"I guess," Kairi shrugged uncertainly.

"This world was lost to darkness before the door could be locked. When it was restored the door would have been open," Riku explained, offering them both a hand up. "It's locked now though. Mickey must have locked it while he was here."

"You can tell from here the door is locked?" Sora still looked baffled.

"Can't you?" Riku frowned; he had assumed Sora could sense everything he could.

"No," Sora shook his head. "My keyblade can."

"Huh," Riku hadn't thought there was any difference; there wasn't for him.

For a moment it looked as if Riku was going to head towards the Secret Place, then he turned and started picking blackberries.

"We should bring some home for my mom."

* * *

Nara was not surprised to hear Kairi and Sora's voices coming from her kitchen, but Riku's laughter startled her. It had been so long since she had heard it. She peered into the kitchen to find Sora trying to wash blackberry stains off his shirt.

"Oh, shut up," Sora grumbled, then noticed Nara and smiled brightly. "We picked you blackberries."

Nara could only stare at them for a moment, not sure whether to laugh or cry. She remembered three little children proudly presenting her with sand pails full of the sweet berries, tongues and fingers stained purple. The memory hardly matched the three near adults in the kitchen now.

Riku studied her curiously from behind the fringe of his hair, but said nothing.

"Thank you," Nara managed to find her voice, smiling. "Do you want cobbler or jam?"

"Cobbler!" Sora crowed.

"Jam please," Kairi said at the same time.

Nara laughed then, because it was the same answer they had always given. "Go get me more. I'll make you both."

"But cobbler first, right?" Sora asked. "Riku, you like cobbler better, right?"

"Come on Sora," Riku grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him towards the door. "Let's go."

Riku, Nara remembered, liked them both the same.

* * *

"Riku?" Nara stepped onto their back porch.

Riku had been sprawled on the porch swing all morning, staring out at the ocean. She had thought several time about telling him to come inside, or asking him if he was hungry, but there was something about him that seemed untouchable to her now, so she had left him alone.

He turned to look at her when she said his name though.

"Your father forgot his lunch. I'm going to take it to him. Do you want anything from the store while I'm there?" she asked.

"I'll take it," Riku stood up with a grace she didn't remembered, or maybe she had just never noticed. "The jam will burn if you go."

Nara wondered how he knew what she was doing. He had been out on the porch since before she had woken.

"Thank you," she held the bag out to him.

* * *

Riku's father owned the general store. It had been in his family for generations, and it was one of only two on their tiny cluster of islands, the other being a full day's boat ride away on the big island. Riku had never had much interest in taking over himself. He still didn't.

His vague memories of the general store sharpened as he walked through the front door. He remembered running errands for his father and coming here every time he or Sora broke their play swords. His father sold swords, the wooden ones the children played with, and real swords that people only bought for decoration. What use did the islanders have for swords in their tiny world?

The store was empty, and Riku wandered over to the sword display behind the counter, running his eyes over the weapons. They were nothing fancy, but they were real combat swords, sturdy with good edges on them. Riku had never been allowed to touch them without his father's permission. On the wall next to them was a row of family pictures, the oldest of them a small oil painting of the general store right after it had been built, the newest a Polaroid of Riku, Sora and Kairi as children, tucked into the edge of a frame.

He paused when he spotted a photo of his grandmother, seeing what he hadn't bothered to notice before.

"Riku?" Jonah certainly hadn't expected to see his son in the store.

"You forgot your lunch," Riku offered it to him without looking away from the photo. "Mimi is so young."

"Everyone was young once," His father took the bag from him, amused. "That was taken before I was born."

"Her hair is white though," Riku frowned slightly, not quite remembering what it felt like to be young. "I always thought her hair was white because she was old."

"No," Jonah sat on a stool behind the counter. "You get your hair from her. Your eyes too."

It was no secret that Riku looked nothing like his parents.

"Where did she get them from?" Riku boosted himself up to sit on the back counter.

"I don't know," Jonah unwrapped his sandwich. "She never talked about where she came from, and all she brought with her when she showed up on the islands was a trunk with a broken lock and her swords. Speaking of which, we just got the new swords from Torrs in. I haven't unpacked them yet."

Sword fighting was possibly the only thing Riku and his father had had in common. Jonah had learned from his mother and passed the skills onto his son, and by association his son's best friend. Where his mother had learned, just like where she had come from, she had always kept to herself.

Riku slid off the counter and into the backroom, finding the crate easily. As Jonah watched him unwrap and test the weight and balance of the swords he saw an easy elegant in his movements, a confidence that spoke of experience on the battle field.

Jonah had caught glimpses of Riku's keyblade when his son started from his sleep, sword clutched in his trembling hand, but he had yet to ask to see it. Sora and Kairi were eager to show their keyblades to anyone who asked, as they should be. They were young and they had beautiful weapons worth showing off. Riku had steadily refused every request to draw his blade. If he wouldn't draw it for Kairi, there was very little chance he would show it to Jonah.

"These are nice," Riku laid them down on top of the crate.

"Maybe when you're feeling better we can try them out," Jonah offered hesitantly.

He missed sparing with his son. There was no one else to spar with on the island.

"I think I'd like that," Riku said quietly.


	3. Everyday Things

**Ch 3: Everyday Things**

Riku sat in the sand with his back to the wall, watching Kairi and Sora spar. He found the sound of keyblade hitting keyblade unnerving, but the warm sun and Kairi and Sora's laughter soothed his uneasiness. They hadn't asked him to spar yet; his injuries weren't healed, but he already knew he would tell them both "no" when they got around to it.

Kairi landed on her backside for the fourth time that day and pouted a little.

"I can use the Kingdom Key if you want," Sora offered, switching Oblivion to his other hand and helping her to her feet.

"What good will babying me do?" Kairi grumbled.

"Well, you don't get strong all at once," Sora shrugged. "Sometimes, it helps to start small."

Riku frowned, wondering suddenly why Kairi was still using Summer Rose. "Kairi didn't Sora give you back Oathkeeper?"

"Huh?" Kairi turned to look at him blankly.

"Oh yeah," Sora grinned. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"What are you two talking about?" Kairi demanded, hands on hips.

"The good luck charm you gave Sora," Riku clarified.

"It's right here," Kairi pulled it out of her pocket.

"Let me see," Riku held out his hand for it.

Kairi handed it to him, almost expecting it to turn into a keyblade the instant he touched it. It didn't. Instead, her own familiar keyblade appeared in his other hand.

"How do you do that?" Sora demanded.

"I just do," Riku shrugged and attached the shells to the hilt of Kairi's blade.

There was a flash of light, and the key took on the familiar form of Oathkeeper.

"Wow," Kairi grinned, taking the weapon eagerly.

"Sora only has one keyblade," Riku explained. "He has lots of key chains though. He keeps them attacked to his keyblade so all he has to do is pick one when he summons it."

Kairi dismissed her blade, then called it back, and Summer Rose hummed in her hands. She did it again, and Oathkeeper appeared, solid and cool against her palms.

"Let's go again," she said.

"Riku, you only have one key chain, right?" Sora asked as he stepped back into a fighting stance.

"I only ever needed one," Riku replied, tempted to call his own keyblade, but instead he wrapped his arms loosely around his legs and watched as Kairi took her first swing with Oathkeeper, managing to stager Sora back a step.

* * *

"So are you back to spending your nights brooding instead of sleeping?" Sora plopped down on the roof next to Riku.

"Does your mom know where you are?" Riku replied dryly.

"I'm a big boy now. I don't need to check in every ten minutes," Sora rolled his eyes.

"She probably wouldn't mind if you did though," Riku pointed out.

"It's just like always," Sora snorted. "She knows if I'm not at my house I'm at yours."

"If you say so," Riku shrugged and went back to staring out at the moonlit ocean.

"But you are sleeping, right?" Sora persisted. "At least sometimes."

"Do you feel strange being back?" Riku ignored the question.

"Strange?" Sora considered for a moment. "Not so much strange, as out of step. Like I've forgotten how things are suppose to go here. I kind of expected that though."

"Really?" Riku glanced at him, amused.

"I'm not totally oblivious," Sora bumped Riku with his shoulder, grinning. "I knew it would take a while to get used to not fighting all the time."

"You think that's all it is?" Riku leaned forward to rest his chin on his knees.

"Well yeah…" Sora stopped, then grinned suddenly. "Don't tell me I thought of something you didn't."

"I didn't think of going home at all," Riku rolled his eyes.

"Never?" For some reason the thought made Sora's chest feel tight.

Riku shrugged dismissively. "When I left with the darkness I knew there probably wasn't going to be a way to come back, but I was so desperate to leave that I didn't care. By the time I realized I had made a mistake, it was too late. I didn't think it was even possible for me to get home. So I didn't think about it."

"Never," Sora repeated, trying to wrap his head around it.

"I thought about you. I thought about Kairi," Riku tightened his arms around his knees slightly. "I thought about making sure you both got home safely. I didn't really ever think about what it would be like to be home. I couldn't get there, and I didn't have time to waste on something I couldn't have."

"You're stupid," Sora announced, leaning back on his hands to look up at the stars. "Like I would ever come home without you."

"Right," Riku uncurled, a faint smile on his lips. "I never fail to underestimate how stubborn you are."

"I'm not stubborn," Sora informed him. "I'm persistent, and you're glad I'm that way."

"Yeah," Riku said softly. "I am."

* * *

"Yo, Riku."

Riku looked up from the book he was reading. Wakka was grinning at him from the other side of the counter, one hand full of candy sticks, the other holding out a bill.

"You're not stuck watching the store, are you?" Everyone knew that Riku had never liked doing anything at the general store.

"No," Riku gave him change for his munny.

"Good," Wakka unwrapped one of the sticks and stuck it in his mouth. "Why don't you come with us? We're heading down to the ice cream shop. They put in a bunch of new arcade games. Sora beat Selphie like a zillion to nothing on the shooting game last week."

Riku glanced around the quiet shop, then shrugged and put his book down. "Sure."

"Cool," Wakka offered him a candy stick as he walked around the counter. "Maybe we can pick Sora and Kairi up on the way. Where are they anyway?"

"Sparring down on the beach," Riku took the offered candy and called over his shoulder to let his dad know he was leaving.

"And you're not down there with them?" Wakka raised an eyebrow.

"I broke a couple ribs," Riku said dismissively, as if that actually described the extent of his injuries.

"Ow," Wakka winced in sympathy, although he had never broken any ribs and didn't know how much it did or didn't hurt.

"Just need to give them a couple weeks to knit," Riku had broken many ribs, and wasn't sure he had ever given it much thought. This was the first time he had had time to just let them heal.

Wakka and Riku stopped on the steps leading down to the beach, watching Kairi and Sora fight with keyblades.

"Kairi's getting really good, ya?" Wakka smiled. "She's still not up to Sora though."

"I don't know that anyone is," Riku studied the way Kairi was swinging her attacks, the awkwardness of her thrusts, and debated correcting her grip so she actually stood a chance of getting by Sora's guard.

"Not even you?" Wakka was surprised to hear Riku say it.

"Not anymore," Riku shook his head.

"Sora said you have a keyblade too," Wakka ventured, as curious as everyone else about the only keyblade on the island they hadn't seen.

"Yeah," Riku stepped down onto the sand. "Kairi, come here."

Kairi and Sora broke off fighting, and Kairi jogged over to him.

"Don't give her too many hints," Sora called. "She might actually beat me and break my perfect record."

Kairi stuck her tongue out at him.

"Your perfect record, huh?" Riku raised his eyebrows.

"Yep," Sora's smile was unrepentant and maybe just a little challenging.

Riku didn't take the bait, instead showing Kairi an easier grip for her blade. Even with her using Oathkeeper the blade felt too light in his hands. Road to Dawn wasn't as heavy as Sora's keyblade, but it was still a substantial weapon, and the balance was completely different from Kairi's.

For a moment he wanted the solidness of his own blade in his hands. He wanted to spar with Sora out in the sun like they used to when they were little. Then he remembered dark chambers, and the hollow sound of keyblade hitting keyblade, and Sora, pale and grim as he attacked. Riku forced down a shiver.

He leaned down a little to whisper into Kairi's ear, then sent her back to a suspicious looking Sora. A few minutes and one blizzard spell later a very surprised Sora was trying to use his keyblade to chip his feet out of a block of ice, while Kairi smirked victoriously.

Wakka stared in awe at the magic for a moment, then doubled over laughing. Riku smiled and unwrapped the candy stick Wakka had given him, sucking on the end.

"Perfect record, ha!" Kairi dismissed her keyblade, half expecting Sora to accuse her of cheating.

"Nearly perfect," Sora amended just a little sheepishly, still hacking at the ice.

Riku took pity on him and melted the ice with a casual swirl of fire.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jonah eyed his son uncertainly.

"I'm sure," Riku let the sword twist in his hand, felt the weight and balance that was so different from his keyblade, but familiar all the same.

"We can start slow," Jonah offered, not convinced that his son's injuries were healed.

Riku nodded, although he was sure he was fine. He was trying to remember how his father fought, what moves he liked, what rhythms he set. It bothered him that he couldn't.

He let his father make the first move, blocking the blow thoughtfully, slowly remembering that Jonah liked to always be on the offensive, and had taught his son to do the same. Mickey, however, had taught Riku that a solid defense wasn't just something to fall back on, it was how you won.

Riku took that as his advantage now, letting his father attack and watching for openings. He gave himself time to adjust to the difference between the sword and his keyblade, time to remember what it was like to be in the sun with the ocean behind him, crossing swords with someone who didn't want to hurt him.

"I don't remember you being this patient," Jonah laughed a little as he pulled back.

"No, I guess not," Riku shook his head. "I had to learn to be. I didn't have a choice."

"Just don't be too patient," Jonah attacked quickly, almost making it past Riku's guard.

"No worries there," Riku grinned.

It was all so familiar, the give and take of sword play, the sun shining down on him, the laughter and the fearlessness. He could almost imagine doing this with a keyblade, or even with Sora. Almost.

Riku vaulted over his father's head, landing lightly behind him and just touching the back of his neck with his blade.

"Showy much?" Jonah raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go again," Riku smiled.


	4. Back to School

**Ch 4: Back to School**

Riku was back on the porch swing, and Nara had to wonder if it was healthy for him to spend so much time just staring at the ocean. Sometimes, she didn't understand how Riku and Sora fit together. The two of them had always baffled her. Riku could be quiet and still for hours at a time, while Sora couldn't sit still long enough to tie his shoes.

"Riku?"

"Hmm?" Riku looked up at her, his eyes vivid behind the fringe of his hair.

"Riku, school is starting in a few weeks," Nara couldn't understand why talking to her son made her so nervous now. "Are you planning on going back?"

"I can if you want me to," Riku shrugged, his gaze straying back to the frothy waves.

"I think you should," Nara ventured. "School is important. It would be good if you finished it. I know you'll be behind, but I'm sure you'll catch up fast. You've always been a quick study."

Riku realized a bit belatedly that she was expecting an argument from him. He didn't have one. School was an insubstantial memory. It held no weight in his past, and it held no weight in his future, but if it was important to his mother he would go.

"It'll be fine," he reassured her.

* * *

"They want me to go to school!" Sora stocked across the sand, kicking at shells, a pout on his face that made him look like he was twelve again.

"Just be glad they aren't making you go back to the grade you left," Kairi said unsympathetically.

"But I don't want to go to school," Sora sent a rock skidding out into the waves.

"You've got other pressing plans?" Riku asked dryly.

"Well… I…" Sora paused in his pacing to glance at Riku. "That's not the point."

"Sora just suck it up," Riku rolled his eyes. "It's only a year."

"A year is forever," Sora complained.

"Yeah, no kidding," Riku murmured under his breath.

Sora stopped, foot drawn back to kick another stone, and gave him a questioning look.

"It's not going to kill you," Riku ignored the question he already knew Sora wouldn't ask. "Anyway, you always liked school."

"But it just seems so…" Sora pondered for a moment, "not useful. I've done fine without it for the last two years."

"Three," Kairi and Riku corrected.

"Although, I don't think you can count the year you slept through." Kairi added. "You really weren't doing anything, so of course you didn't need school."

"I really slept through a whole year?" Sora looked between them doubtfully.

"A little over a year, I think," Kairi studied him thoughtfully. "As far as I can tell, it was a little over a year when everyone started remembering you again."

"Thirteen months," Riku supplied without looking at either of them.

"I still can't believe everyone forgot me," Sora flopped down on the sand.

"Riku didn't forget you," Kairi said.

Something in Kairi's voice didn't sound quite like Kairi, and Riku studied her quietly for a moment before turning back to Sora.

"Namine did it to protect you while you were sleeping," Riku explained. "If no one remembered you, then no one would come after you while you were vulnerable."

"Why couldn't she make just the bad guys forget?" Sora pouted.

"It was sort of all or nothing," Riku looked away.

"But you remembered?" Sora tipped his head back, but all he could see was the line of Riku's jaw.

"That's just the way it worked."

"Why?" Sora didn't look away.

"Because," Riku said with finality.

"Fine, be that way," Sora pouted, folding his arms over his chest. "If I have to go to school, the least you can do is spar with me." He kicked at Riku's shoe, but Riku simply shifted his foot out of the way.

"No."

"Sora, I just don't see the connection between sparring and school," Kairi rolled her eyes.

"There doesn't have to be," Sora tried again for Riku's shoe and missed by a wide margin. "I just want to spar. Your side's all better, isn't it? You've been practicing with your dad."

"I said no," Riku hedged off another attempt at his foot by hooking his shoe behind Sora's ankle and kicking out.

Caught off guard, Sora fell sideways into the sand, just barely catching himself before he ended up eating it.

"I'll see you two tomorrow," Riku stood and brushed sand from his pants, then walked away.

Sora righted himself and kicked sullenly at the sand in front of him, sending it spraying in all directions.

"He'll come around when he's ready," Kairi squeezed Sora's shoulder reassuringly. "You just have to be patient."

"But I have been patient," Sora flopped back in the sand. "I've been patient for three years."

"Two," Kairi corrected.

* * *

"So you won't spar, but will you teach me?" Kairi sat down on the porch swing beside Riku, sending it swinging. "Sora's great and all, but he doesn't know how he does half the things he does, and I know you do."

"You think I have any clue how Sora does anything?" Riku smirked.

"That's not what I meant," Kairi punched him in the arm not so lightly.

"I know," Riku brushed the hair from his face. "You don't really need a teacher though. A keyblade isn't like a sword. It's an instinctive weapon. It will tell you how to use it, and the more you use it, the more you'll know. Sparring with Sora is probably the best way to learn."

"But it's good to know the other stuff," Kairi insisted. "Just in case."

"In case of what?" Riku's gaze slide away from her.

"In case of anything," Kairi shrugged. "Just… in case, because if we ever do leave the islands again, we'll all go together, and I want to be able to help."

Riku was very still, his hair sliding back to curtain his face again. Kairi reached out and took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Please?" She asked softly.

"You have to go to Sora for magic," Riku still wasn't looking at her, but his hand tightened slightly in hers. "Donald and Merlin taught him really well. I can't even work healing magic. Mickey tried to teach me, and I couldn't do it, and Maleficent just tossed battle magic at me, and I picked up what I could and made the rest up as I went. I can't teach you magic."

"But you can teach me to use a sword," Kairi said firmly.

"I can teach you that," Riku agreed.

"Thanks," Kairi leaned her head against his shoulder and set the swing to rocking again.

* * *

Riku was disinterested in school. History in third period held a small amount of his attention with an account of how their islands had been settled. Math in fifth period might have held his attention, if it had been a little more intricate and a little less irrelevant. Mostly though, Sora and Kairi held his attention.

Sora had done some bargaining, something it would never have occurred to him to do before, and arranged for all three of them to have the same schedule. So Riku watched Kairi pay attention to the lessons while slipping quiet glances at he and Sora, as if she couldn't quite believe they were there, and he watched Sora feign boredom for the first ten minutes of class, then get bored with that and start paying attention.

Sora liked school. He always had. It wasn't that he was particularly good at it, because Sora had never been anything but an average student, but he liked being at school. He liked being around people, and he liked learning new things. Riku had been surprised he had put up such a fuss over going back.

Riku had always been bored with school. It had never been a challenge for him. He got top marks with minimum effort, and probably would have gotten poor marks with no effort if grades hadn't been turned into yet another competition between he and Sora. Even after having missed three years there was still nothing there to challenge him. Some of the information was new, but the underlying patterns were all the same. Algebra was really no different than arithmetic and literature barely a step up from English.

Riku stared down at the math book in front of him, where tidy columns of numbers and variables came out to a simple neat answer. It never worked that way. There was never just one unknown, and hardly ever enough equations to solve for the number of unknowns that existed. And no constants.

Except that wasn't true. M was a constant. M for Mickey, and he had never expected that, just like he had never expected Sora and Kairi to be variables. Or himself. He had never expected himself to be a variable.

"Riku, would you like to try solving the equation on the board?" the teacher's tone was as bland as the class.

Riku studied the equation for only a moment. "Seven."

"Pardon?" the teacher blinked at him, having obviously expected him to come up to the board and write out the process.

"X equals seven," Riku clarified; there was only one variable.

"How do you know?" the teacher looked mystified.

"Simplify, factor, solve for the variable." The pattern was easy when the first two steps could be dropped because the equation was simple to start with.

"Can you show the class how you did it?" the teacher motioned him up to the chalk board.

If she was hoping Riku would reveal some secret that would turn her class into mathematical geniuses she was sadly mistaken. Riku drew the equation in a neat little column with all the equal signs lined up just like the book, and never once hinted that that had had nothing to do with how he had actually found the answer.


	5. Past, Present

**Ch 5: Past, Present**

"Do you want to go get ice cream? I'll buy."

Riku, once again sitting behind the counter of the general store, looked up from his homework and nodded. "Yeah."

Riku set his books aside and followed Sora out into the sunny morning.

"So why the sudden interest in the store?" Sora kicked at a rock in the path in front of him.

"It's not the store," Riku said with a vague smile. "Mom is on the other side of the island. The house is… empty."

It wasn't the first time Riku had said that. The store occupied most of his father's time, and quite a bit of his mother's as well. What time his mother had left had always been spent on her various clubs and groups. Sora's mother had been watching Riku since before Sora had been born. At nine, Riku's parents had decided he was old enough to forgo a babysitter, but Riku had still show up on Sora's doorstep almost every day, claiming that his own house was just too empty.

"You should come to my house then," Sora laced his hands behind his head and turned to walk backwards so he could face Riku. "My mom misses you."

"Really," Riku said dryly.

"Really," Sora echoed his tone, then grinned. "Come to dinner tonight. Mom's making… um…"

"Fish," Riku supplied

"Yeah," Sora sounded less than happy about that. "Are you tired of fish yet?"

"No," Riku shook his head. "Tastes like food, it's fine with me."

"I miss sea salt ice cream," Sora stumbled over a rock and turned to watch where he was going. "And in the Land of Dragons they had these bread roll things with this really good stuffing in it. I kept forgetting to ask Mulan what it was. Then there were these little jelly filled cookie things at Beast's Castle, and don't even get me started on the candy they had in Christmas Town… Did I tell you Santa Clause was real?"

"Yeah, I know," Riku nodded.

"You know?" Sora stopped walking.

"I saw him," Riku nodded.

"When?"

"Um… " Riku frowned slightly. "The first time you were there I think. When Maleficent brought Uggie Boogie back."

"You were there?" Sora looked at him in disbelief. "You knew I was there?"

"Sora, I always knew where you were."

Sora gapped at him for a moment, and Riku simply stood, staring at the ground, hands in his pockets.

"You dork," Sora pouted. "You could have at least said hello." He spun on his heels and started walking again. "Just for that I ought to make you buy."

Despite the threat, Sora still bought the ice cream and said nothing about Riku's choice of coconut over the double fudge he always used to get.

"So were you following me, or Maleficent?" Sora swung his feet over the edge of the dock.

"A little of both," Riku shrugged. "Maleficent was harder to keep track of than you, but I could always tell when she was on a world."

"Do you think she's really gone?" Sora stared down at the calm water under them.

"I doubt it," Riku ate the last of his ice cream and bit into the cone. "It doesn't matter though. Maleficent is a manageable threat."

"By which you mean, you, Kairi, and I will have no trouble with her together," Sora gestured towards him with his dripping ice cream cone, and Riku shifted away to avoid getting sticky.

"Sora, will you keep your ice cream to yourself?" Riku pushed Sora's hand away.

"Right?" Sora demanded.

"Right," Riku nodded. "Stop dripping on me."

* * *

"Riku!" Hanae Tae hugged him like he hadn't been sprawled on her living room floor two days ago doing history homework with Sora.

"Hi Mrs. Tae," Riku was uncertain about returning the hug, but he didn't squirm away the way he used to.

"Dinner is almost ready. Are you boys doing homework again?" Hanae ushered Riku into the house in front of her.

"On a Saturday?" Sora made a face at his mother.

"Not everyone is as lazy as you are," Hanae tweaked her son's nose.

"I'm not lazy!" Sora protested. "I just don't like doing homework."

"No one likes doing homework," Riku pointed out.

"This is true," Hanae agreed. "We're having fish stew tonight. Hope you're both hungry."

Sora made a face behind his mother's back.

"Sounds great," Riku smiled easily.

* * *

"So did you go to Atlantis?" Sora squinted at a bluish star in the clear night sky.

"No," Riku's eyes were closed, his arms folded comfortably over his chest.

"What about the Pridelands?" Sora stretched and laced his hands behind his head.

"Yeah," Riku nodded slightly.

"I bet you were a cute lion," Sora teased.

"Not everyone has magic cloths," Riku countered dryly.

"But…" Sora frowned, trying to wrap his head around something as out of place as a human in the Pridelands.

"Only Pete saw me," Riku said.

"Oh," Sora chewed on his lip for a moment, then shrugged. "Port Royal?"

"A couple times," Riku still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Aren't pirates cool?" Sora grinned.

"No," Riku shook his head. "Sparrow's a pain in the ass."

"He's not…" Sora started, then bolted upright so quickly he nearly slid off the roof. "You met Jack Sparrow?"

"Yes," Riku raised an eyebrow at him, having finally opened his eyes when he had snapped a hand out to grab the back of Sora's shirt and stop him from sliding right off the roof.

Not that falling off the porch roof was likely to hurt Sora. They had been jumping off the roof of Sora's porch since they were old enough to figure out how to get onto it.

"Before or after I was there?" Sora demanded.

"Both I think," Riku looked a bit wary of Sora's sudden irritation. "I was there before you ever woke up, and I think at least once after you had been there."

"That jerk!" Sora thumped his heels against the shingles. "He said he hadn't seen you."

"He probably…" Riku started, then changed his mind. "No. He's just a jerk. He's not nearly as stupid as he pretends to be. By the second time you were there he should have figured out who I was."

"I am so frying his backside if I ever see him again," Sora pouted.

"Alright," Riku agreed easily and laid back down, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes again.

"I can't believe he didn't say anything. He knew I was looking for you," Sora continued to rant.

"Mm-hm," Riku replied sleepily.

"Why wouldn't he tell me?" Sora pouted.

"He wants something from you," Riku didn't try to stifle his yawn.

"My keyblade?" Sora frowned.

"Doubt it," Riku shrugged. "He can't use it, so it's not any good to him."

"Then what?"

"Rum," Riku answered.

"Rum?"

"Sparrow has his ship. The only other thing he cares about is rum."

"I don't have any rum," Sora pointed out.

"That doesn't mean he can't use you to get it, or anything else he wants."

"Jack wouldn't…" Sora frowned, then sighed and propped his chin up on his hands. "What about Deep Jungle?"

"Lots of bugs," Riku yawned.

* * *

"Hey, that's mine!" Kairi grabbed for the tie Riku pulled out of her hair.

"Looser forfeits," Riku held the tie out of her reach and stepped back.

"A hair tie?" Kairi snorted. "That's not a very impressive forfeit."

"Well, you're just a beginner." Riku smirked and stuck the tip of his wooden sword in the sand, then tied his hair back at the nap of his neck.

"What forfeit do I get if I win?" Kairi demanded.

"That's a pretty big 'if,'" Riku teased, flipping his sword up from the sand.

"I'm so going to kick your butt," Kairi lunged at him.

Riku laughed and side stepped, letting Kairi go by and brining his sword up to swat her backside with the flat of the blade. Kairi gave an indignant squeak and spun, only to find her sword blocked before she had ever really launched her attack. She stepped back to put distance between herself and Riku, and managed to block a few attacks that she knew Riku hadn't put much force behind.

"Keep your wrist straight," Riku tapped the inside of her wrist with the tip of his sword just hard enough to sting.

Kairi adjusted her grip and tried to feint right and strike left, but she wasn't fast enough. Riku blocked her, and with a deft flick of his wrist twisted her sword from her hand into his. She had barely registered loosing the sword before both weapons were crossed at her throat.

"Fine, it's a big 'if,'" Kairi rolled her eyes. "But just for argument's sake, _if_ I win, what do I get?"

"What do you want?" Riku shrugged, handing her sword back to her hilt first.

"Hmm," Kairi pondered for a few moments, spinning the sword in her hand. "If I win," she said slowly. "I want you to promise that you won't hide from us ever again, no matter what happens."

"Kairi…" Riku frowned uncertainly.

"It's a big if, isn't it?" Kairi challenged.

Riku nodded slowly. "Alright."

"Good," Kairi took a fighting stance again. "So what do you want if you win, besides hair ties?"

"When I win," Riku corrected, letting Kairi have the first attack, for all the good it did her.

"When you win," Kairi agreed easily, managing not to loose her balance despite the solidness of Riku's counter.

"Salt water taffy," Riku said after a moment of blocks and parries. "And maybe caramel apples every now and then."

"Taffy?" Kairi was so surprised she almost didn't block Riku's next attack.

"The good stuff," Riku nodded. "The stuff they sell over near the pier."

"That's it?" Kairi was sure there had to be a catch.

"For now," Riku shrugged. "When the 'if' gets a little smaller, I'll come up with something else."

"That's so kind," Kairi sighed as she lost her sword again.

"Banana is my favorite flavor," Riku said, the tip of his sword at Kairi's throat.

* * *

The moon was full and glittering over the water, and Riku was restless. He slid down the slope of the roof under his window and landed soundlessly on his feet in soft sand. It was only too obvious where he was going from there.

Under the starlight, the Play Island was small and harmless, just like the rest of the world. It felt so much smaller than it had before, but the smallness didn't chaff at him anymore. Riku tied his boat and jumped onto the dock, listening to the hollow sound of the wood under his bare feet, the sound of crickets and night birds in the trees, and the waves, always constant.

Riku had to duck to get through the tunnel to the Secret Place, and it was too dark to see the chalk drawings on the wall, but he wasn't interested in them. The only thing in the little cave that held his attention was the door. He felt the tug of his keyblade, and for the first time since they had gotten back to the island Riku intentionally summoned Road to Dawn. It was solid against his palm in a way no other weapon had ever been, not even Sora's keyblade.

He could unlocked the door if he wanted. Road to Dawn was good at unlocking things. He didn't want to though. Instead, Riku sat facing the door, his back to cool stone, and set his keyblade across his lap. He could feel the swirls of light and dark behind the closed door, and if he closed his eyes he could see it.

The heart of Destiny Island was ordinary in that respect, just as it was ordinary in every other way. Riku had seen the hearts of dozens of worlds, and had never once found one with no darkness in it. Nor had he ever seen a heart with no light. When all the light was gone from the heart of a world, the world ceased to be.

The hearts of people were the same, and Riku could still remember the soft murmur of Mickey's voice as he insisted that the fact that Riku still existed was enough to prove that he wasn't beyond salvation. Mickey, Riku thought, was an optimism, but one who was usually right, oddly enough.

Riku unhooked the key chain from the hilt of his blade and watched it shift back to a key that looked remarkably like Sora's Kingdom Key save for the black blade and silver hilt. The key chain dangled from his fingers, catching and reflecting the moonlight off its dark surface. The sword Maleficent had given him had been powerful, but not a keyblade. When he had found his keyblade, lost in the darkness of Kingdom Hearts, he had turned Soul Eater into a key chain.

A sudden flash of light jerked Riku's head up, and the keyhole shimmered into existence against the warm wood of the door. With a wan smile Riku dismissed both keyblade and chain, but the keyhole stayed.

Riku had no memory of ever seeing the keyhole before, but it seemed so familiar in the darkness of the cave.

"Memories are funny things," Namine had told him once, looking at the never ending twilight outside the mansion window. "Sometimes the chains that let us see them simply fray over time and break, and sometimes we break them ourselves when we don't want the memory anymore."

Riku remembered. He had been very small, but fearless, and he had lead the way down the dark tunnel with Sora following at his heels. There had been no monsters at the end, but Riku hadn't really expected there to be. There were no real monsters, not on their tiny island.

Sora had lost interest quickly with a door that wouldn't open, and turned to go. Riku had meant to follow, but something made a shiver run down his spine. He spun and found a keyhole shinning in the darkness. If there was a keyhole, then there must be a key, and if they could find the key, they could open the door, and who knew what sorts of adventures they would have then.

As Riku stared something sharp dug into his leg, and he spun, swiping at the unseen with his hand, only to find his hand wasn't empty. A key glittered in the dim light of the cave, and it sent the small shadowy creature that had clawed his leg flying back to hit the wall, where it disintegrated into nothing more than shreds of darkness.

There were two more creatures creeping towards him, and he was just a little bit afraid, but the key in his hands felt an awful lot like the swords he and his dad practiced with, and that was how he used it. The little creatures dissolved into nothing when he struck them.

Just as quickly as the keyhole, key, and creatures had appeared, they were all gone, and Riku couldn't make the key come back, no matter what he tried.

Sora yelled down the tunnel for him, not feeling quite brave enough to go back into the dark by himself. By the time Riku was standing in the sunlight outside the cave, he had convinced himself that he had only dreamed the whole thing, and dreams were easy to forget.

* * *

"Do you remember when I said you were just the delivery boy for the keyblade?" Riku held the box of taffy out so Sora could root through it.

Sora froze, his hand hovering over the only piece of strawberry taffy he had been able to find in a box that was mostly banana. He tried to get a look at Riku's face, to get some clue as to why he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but the wind had picked up off the water and blown Riku's hair loose from its tie, and all Sora could see was silver.

"Yeah," Sora replied cautiously.

"I think it was the other way around," Riku dropped the box in Sora's lap when he didn't take anything, and took a piece for himself. "I think I had your keyblade first."

"If you had it first then it was yours," Sora unwrapped his candy and popped it in his mouth.

"No," Riku shook his head. "I think it was always yours. I think I was just holding it for you until you were ready. Even when I took it, it didn't feel right."

"Does the one you have now feel right?" Sora asked.

Riku nodded, popping the taffy in his mouth. "They're echoes of each other, your keyblade and mine, did you know that?"

"Really?" Sora called his keyblade, summoning Ultimate without giving it much thought.

He held the blade in front of him and tried to connect the shimmering white blade with the sweep of darkness and flash of pearly feathers he always associated with Riku's keyblade. He didn't see the connection.

Riku smiled a little and summoned his own keyblade, leaving the keychain behind. Sora gapped at the simple key he had never actually seen, and quickly dismissed his own keychain, leaving a blade that was nearly identical to Riku's. Silver for gold, and dark for light, but they looked like they were struck on the same forge.

"I think that's why I could use your keyblade, and you could use mine, and why I could carry the keyblade that was meant for you," Riku said. "They're connected somehow, bound together."

"They look like the king's key," Sora said, reaching tentatively for Riku's blade.

"They're different though," Riku let him have it. "I can't use Mickey's key, and he can't use mine. I think his key is more like Kairi's, and our keys are something different."

"You can use Kairi's key though," Sora set the taffy box aside and stood, spinning both blades, enjoying the way they complimented each other in his hands.

"I don't think that has anything to do with anything," Riku shrugged. "I think she just doesn't have a very good grip on it yet."

"Where did you get her keyblade anyway?" Sora slashed at air, noticing how his keyblade whistled softly, and Riku's made no sound at all.

"She had it when I caught up with her," Riku picked up another piece of taffy. "Namine was carrying it for a while, but she wasn't strong enough to use it by herself. Once she and Kairi joined together again, it was just a matter of showing Kairi how to summon it."

"So Kairi had her keyblade, and you found yours in the dark side of Kingdom Hearts, and you had mine before that, but where did they come from before that?" Sora stopped sparring with the waving shadow of the palm tree they were under and offered both keys to Riku hilt first.

Riku hesitated a moment, then stood and took them. "I don't know."

The keyblades were solid in Riku's hands, the slightly different weights and grips complimenting each other. They were meant to be used together, they played off the strengths and weaknesses of the other. Riku couldn't see the same person holding both of them within their heart though. It would have worn the bearer down to nothing.

"You think we ever will?" Sora wondered around a mouth full of taffy.

"I don't know," Riku slashed through the air, liking the way the blades worked together. "Mickey didn't know. His keyblade has been passed down through the line of rulers at Disney Castle. That's how the king is chosen. He's the one with the keyblade."

"Well, maybe someday we'll find out," Sora smiled as he watched Riku spar against invisible opponents.

"Maybe," Riku agreed.


	6. And Future

**Ch 6: And Future**

Lightening crackled across the beach haphazardly, and Riku held up his hand with a laugh, deflecting it away from him with a shield. Sora ducked with a yelp that only made Riku laugh harder.

"You stop laughing," Kairi pointed her keyblade at Riku menacingly.

"Learn how to aim," Riku countered.

"But not at me," Sora shook sand from his hair.

"You're both impossible," Kairi huffed.

"But you love us anyway," Sora smiled a little too sweetly.

"Of course," Kairi tossed her hair. "That's why you're both still breathing. Show me again."

Sora demonstrated the spell again, aiming at a hapless rock along the water. Kairi missed again, but came less close to hitting the boys.

"It's alright Kairi," Sora shrugged. "Stuff like this takes a while to learn."

And maybe you didn't learn it as fast when your life didn't depend on it, Riku thought a little dryly. It was alright though. He wouldn't have wanted anyone to have to learn to work magic the way he and Sora had, to know that if the spell went wrong at the wrong time, you could die and the people counting on you could die.

He wished Kairi didn't have to learn to fight at all, he wished he could always be able to protect she and Sora, but he had learned the hard way that he couldn't. Xenhort's heartless was gone, Xemnas and Organization XIII were gone, but there were still heartless and nobodies scattered across the worlds. It would only be a matter of time before the creatures found their way back to the little world that was home to a Princess of Heart and three keyblade wielders.

The best way that he knew of to make sure Kairi was safe when they came was to make sure she could protect herself.

* * *

"Two out of three, loser forfeits."

Sora jumped, and barely managed to catch the wooden sword Riku tossed to him.

"Um… Riku?" Sora frowned slightly, caught between wanting to tackle him in a hug, and wanting to tell him that he didn't have to.

"No magic," Riku stuck the tip of his sword in the soft sand while he tied his hair back. "If I win, I want a caramel apple every day for the next week."

"So that's where the taffy came from," Sora paused in reacquainting himself with a stagnate weapon.

"If you're nice, I'll keep sharing," Riku smiled and flipped his sword up.

"If I win, I want a pint of ice cream every day for the next two weeks."

Riku snorted. "You'll get sick."

"I'll share it with Selphie. She can eat a pint of ice cream in under five minutes and not throw up," Sora grinned, slowly circling Riku.

"I don't want to know how you know that," Riku watched where Sora put his feet, how he shifted his weight.

"Tidus told me," Sora hesitated to make the first move.

"I don't want to know how Tidus knows that," Riku was relaxed, patient as he waited for Sora.

"Me either," Sora's first attack was fast, but not unexpected.

In the palm trees high above, sea birds were startled from their perch by the sound of wooden swords and laughter.


End file.
